Macau casino market to finish 2016 on a high due to VIP recovery

In Macau, gaming industry experts have predicted that aggregated gross gaming revenues for December could rise by as much as 14% year-on-year to top $2.5 billion thanks in large part to the improved performance of the VIP sector.

According to a report from the Macau Business Daily newspaper, gaming analysts from Wells Fargo Securities have predicted average daily revenues for the first eleven days of December at around $86.3 million while forecasting a median for the month of as high as $83.2 million. The firm explained that the casino market in the former Portuguese enclave has stabilized with some growth being driven by “Chinese monetary stimulus and the re-inflation of the Chinese housing bubble” although it declared that these influences “won’t drive prolonged [and] above trend growth”.

Wells Fargo Securities moreover reportedly stated that average daily revenues at the beginning of December have benefited from a better than average performance in VIP business volumes with some junket operators “seeing 15% to 20% growth in volumes”.

For ratings agency Telsey Advisory Group, a second consecutive month of double-digit growth in aggregated gross gaming revenues since 2014 is reportedly expected for December due to the “sustainability of the recovery in the VIP business” although it predicted that this would decline in 2017.